Two perfect Jems

by Al Constable on 23 Aug 2005 John Balderstone’s new Sydney 47 cruiser racer Jem is far from being a racing boat, its been very much set up for family sailing with teak decks, lazy jacks and hanked on jibs, but its won the Edward Island Premier Cruising Division on Sunday by more than 33 minutes on corrected time.

Having won the Lindeman Island race on Saturday, it was a gem of a weekend.

In the Edward Island light weather race, Jem had by far the best start, with her asymmetric kite, perfect for a fast responsive gybing; she was able to sail away from the fleet and was already leading by 200 metres at the top of Dent Island.

She extended down the side of Dent Island, maximising current and all the headlands. She then sailed well over towards the mainland making further gains.

By Coppersmith Rock she had caught up and over taken Seriously 10, the Volvo 60 who started 10 minutes in front in the PHS division.

The Jem crew hoisted their asymmetric at Coppersmith and had a wonderful run, with the new owner enjoying the helm, in perfect conditions and the crew having a relaxing Hahn Premium on the rail.

At Edward Island, sistership Steve and Mary Chiodo’s Gomez was only five minutes behind, after running aground in Dent Passage; she had sailed back through the fleet.

However the Jem crew put their pedal to the floor on the reach back to Hamilton Island extending to win by 22 minutes from Gomez,

Yesterday on the lay day, the Melbourne sailor was still excited about the leg home.

‘We gybed and started reaching, in eight knots of breeze, with our larger spinnaker, being so new to the boat, we were not sure of the angles, but we were getting 7-6’s to 7.8’s.

‘Then we put up our small flatter red spinnaker up and increased our speed to 8.7 knots in eight knots of breeze at 100 true.

‘An amazing trip home, it was a gem of day, with the sun going down, everyone on the rail, I wanted a beautiful boat and this is certainly is it.

‘It’s not very often in life that things exceed your expectations, but this boat has certainly done that.’

Points , Sail No , Boat , Owner , Elapsed , Handicap , Corrected , Finishing Place , Points
1 , 6518 , JEM , John & Deb Balderstone , 9:35:58 , 1.180 , 11:19:38 , 1 , 1
2 , SM6666 , GOMEZ , Steve & Mary Chiodo , 9:58:15 , 1.192 , 11:53:07 , 2 , 2
3 , SM477 , ESPRIT , Garry Anderson , 10:41:06 , 1.135 , 12:07:39 , 3 , 3
4 , 8924 , PRETTY FLY II , Colin & Gladys Woods , 10:46:37 , 1.135 , 12:13:55 , 4 , 4
5 , MH102 , HONEYSUCKLE , Ray Harris , 10:56:18 , 1.133 , 12:23:35 , 5 , 5
6 , SYD111 , BULLRUSH , Bob Southerton , 11:00:48 , 1.134 , 12:29:21 , 6 , 6
7 , 7744 , EAGLE ROCK , Ross Wilson , 11:02:02 , 1.133 , 12:30:05 , 7 , 7
8 , B7766 , LADY GODIVA , David Currie , 10:54:13 , 1.153 , 12:34:19 , 8 , 8
9 , SYD222 , YOU'RE HIRED , G Morgan & A Banks , 11:04:13 , 1.139 , 12:36:33 , 9 , 9
10 , 195 , SAMARKAND , Walter Carpenter , 10:42:37 , 1.181 , 12:38:56 , 10 , 10
11 , 6111 , NEVER A DULL MOMENT , Colin & Denise Wilson , 10:25:20 , 1.219 , 12:42:17 , 11 , 11
12 , 6146 , KIONI , Nicholas Athineos , 11:12:42 , 1.136 , 12:44:11 , 12 , 12
13 , 35 , IMAGINATION , Robin Hawthorn , 11:21:18 , 1.131 , 12:50:33 , 13 , 13
14 , 8181 , ESPRESSO FORTE , Laurence Freedman , 10:16:02 , 1.257 , 12:54:21 , 14 , 14
15 , 6070 , SYDNEY , Charles Curran , 10:04:37 , 1.291 , 13:00:34 , 15 , 15
16 , 7477 , TRIESTE , Peter Versi , 11:47:24 , 1.132 , 13:20:47 , 16 , 16
17 , SA10 , STORM 2 , Don Algie , 10:54:06 , 1.271 , 13:51:22 , 17 , 17
18 , SM5000 , MAGIC CARPET , Dean Coates , 11:31:39 , 1.216 , 14:01:03 , 18 , 18
19 , 6037 , EUREKA II , Trevor Neate , 11:01:35 , 1.276 , 14:04:11 , 19 , 19
20 , NZL3900 , LION NEW ZEALAND , William Goodfellow , 10:21:13 , 1.366 , 14:08:35 , 20 , 20
21 , 500 , ANTIPODES , Greg Newton , 13:09:52 , 1.088 , 14:19:22 , 21 , 21
22 , THA696N , BIG BUZZARD , Melissa Jenks-Olivit , 12:46:17 , 1.126 , 14:22:50 , 22 , 22
23 , NZL8818 , INTRIGUE , Ian Nicolson , 10:55:21 , 1.321 , 14:25:43 , 23 , 23
24 , 100 , ESCAPE , Graham Jones , 13:17:11 , 1.098 , 14:35:18 , 24 , 24
25 , SYD101 , BLUEBOTTLE , Bob Proberts , 13:57:10 , 1.124 , 15:40:59 , 25 , 25